Blue tiger (Tirumala limniace)

Blue tiger (Tirumala limniace) is an animal species within the Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterfly, exhibiting gregarious migratory behavior in that can absorb heat directly from the sun through its wings to facilitate autonomous flight.

T. limniace has a black body with white spots, a pair of black eyes, a pair of black antennae and black legs. The wing surface is dark brown with white and blue plots.

Larvae are yellowish white, the 3rd and 12th segments have a pair of fleshy filaments, black and greenish white. The head, legs and pincers are mottled with black. Larvae are about 1.21 cm long and initial weight of 5 mg, but grow up to four times within 48 hours.

The cocoons have a green color with golden spots scattered and beaded down the back. Blue tigers have at least nine subspecies. The migration population consists almost entirely of males.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Danainae
Tribe: Danaini
Subtribe: Danaina
Genus: Tirumala
Species: Tirumala limniace
Subspecies: T. l. bentenga, T. l. conjuncta, T. l. exotica, T. l. ino, T. l. leopardus, T. l. limniace, T. l. makassara, T. l. orestilla, T. l. vaneeckeni

Temulawak (Curcuma zanthorrhiza)

Temulawak or Java ginger or Javanese ginger or Javanese turmeric or Curcuma xanthorrhiza ( Curcuma zanthorrhiza ) is a plant species in Zingiberaceae, grows well in loose soil in tropical forests in the lowlands to an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level and tubers are used for medicinal herbs and drinks. C. zanthorrhiza has pseudo stems up to 2 m tall. The stem is a midrib of upright, overlapping leaves, green or dark brown in color. Rhizomes are perfectly formed, large, branched and reddish brown, dark yellow or dark green. Each bud forms 2-9 leaves with a circular shape extending to lancet, green or light purple to dark brown, leaves 31-84 cm long and 10-18 cm wide, stems 43-80 cm long and each strand is connected with a midrib. Flowers are dark yellow, uniquely shaped and clustered with lateral inflorescences. The stems and scales are in the form of lines, 9-23cm long and 4-6cm wide, having protectors with comparable crowns. Petals are white, hairy and 8-13mm long. The...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Rubber rattan (Calamus ruber)

Rubber rattan or Daemonorops rubra ( Calamus ruber ) is a species of plant in the Arecaceae, a dense shrub, clumping, growing climbing up to 11 meters, cream colored stems, stem diameter with midrib up to 35 mm, diameter without midrib 12-16 mm, internode length 17- 32 cm, book height about 1.5 mm. C. ruber has green leaf midribs, densely thorny, flat, bright yellowish green, 5 cm long and arranged like a comb. The climbing tool is in the form of a comb or ponytail, up to 80 cm long, stalk length 87 cm. The small knees are covered with flat spines and are yellowish green in color. Okrea is unclear. Leaves are up to 3.5 meters long. The minor leaves are ribbon-shaped to oblong, irregularly pinnately arranged, 40-53 cm long and 2-4 cm wide. Fruit is round, 2 cm, scales brown or dark yellow. This species grows in lowland primary forests up to an elevation of 1000 meters. Stems are used for furniture components and handicrafts. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospe...

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